- Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Sun is reporting that Ottawa Senators forward Angus Crookshank is unlikely to return this season as he is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. The 24-year-old rookie has dressed in 13 games this year and has averaged just a shade over 10 minutes of ice time per game. He’s played in a bottom-six role but did get some top-6 minutes on his most recent recall and will likely be in the mix for a spot in the Senators forward group next season. Crookshank hasn’t produced much in the way of offence, but he has chipped in with two goals and an assist.
Senators Rumors
Senators Activate, Reassign Rourke Chartier
The Senators have activated forward Rourke Chartier from injured reserve and subsequently assigned him to AHL Belleville, per a team announcement. He’d missed 12 games with an upper-body injury.
Chartier, 28 yesterday, was summoned from Belleville under emergency conditions on March 8 but only played once, logging 11:23 against the Sharks before exiting the lineup. He was placed on IR later in the month to open a roster spot.
It was the second lengthy absence of the campaign for Chartier, who also missed 12 games with a concussion in December and January. That hasn’t stopped the Saskatoon native from making a career-high 37 appearances this season, scoring twice and adding an assist while averaging 10:46 per game. The minor-league mainstay is in his third season with the Senators organization and his second on an NHL contract in Ottawa after spending 2021-22 on a minor-league contract with Belleville.
A Sharks 2014 fifth-round pick, the former WHL All-Star played only 13 games with San Jose, all in the 2018-19 season. The following summer, after completing his entry-level contract, he was not awarded a qualifying offer and became an unrestricted free agent, but concussion symptoms prevented him from being cleared to play, and he sat out the 2019-20 campaign as a result. He returned to play in 2020 on a minor-league contract with the Maple Leafs before linking up with the Sens in 2021.
While he may not have much of an NHL future after showing little promise in his fourth-line minutes, Chartier has resumed his strong level of play in the minors and should continue to earn contracts from major league clubs. The pending UFA has been strong in limited action with the B-Sens this year, posting seven goals and 10 points in 12 games. Last season, he scored 20 goals in only 40 games.
Chartier will likely spend the rest of the season in the minors and will be eligible for Calder Cup Playoffs action with Belleville if they sneak in. They’re last place in the North Division but are only two points back of Laval for the fifth and final playoff berth with two games in hand. However, if injuries take a forward out of the mix, he could find his way back up to Ottawa for a game or two.
Injury Notes: Couturier, Hamonic, Oshie
It has been revealed that Philadelphia Flyers captain Sean Couturier is facing a sprained shoulder, per NHL.com’s Kevin Kurz (Twitter link). Couturier seems to have dodged more serious injury and continues to carry the day-to-day injury designation given to him on Wednesday and is questionable for the team’s Friday night game.
Couturier has had an eventful season since being named Philadelphia’s first captain since Claude Giroux on February 14th. He’s since managed just three assists through 20 games, adding 11 penalty minutes and a -17. The cold streak has earned him two healthy scratches that he hasn’t yet vindicated – riding a six-game scoreless streak since returning to the lineup. Couturier managed 30 points in 41 games of the season but has since fallen apart. Hopefully a clean bill of health following this shoulder injury can bring with it a resurgence on the scoresheet.
Other notes from around the league:
- The Ottawa Senators are expected to be without defenseman Travis Hamonic on Thursday night due to a lower-body injury, per Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun (Twitter link). Hamonic has missed 16 of Ottawa’s last 17 games with this injury and continues to miss time even after being removed from injured reserve on March 19th. He’s played in just 48 games this season, recording six points, 40 penalty minutes, and a -10. He joins Thomas Chabot on the team’s sideline, with Tyler Kleven benefiting most from the pair’s absences.
- T.J. Oshie missed the Washington Capitals practice on Thursday, instead seeing the team’s doctor for an upper-body injury. Head coach Spencer Carbery shared that the injury will hold Oshie out of Washington’s next two games, per Bailey Johnson of the Washington Post (Twitter link), as the Capitals face a back-to-back on Thursday and Friday. His next chance to return will come on Sunday, when Washington hosts the Ottawa Senators. Oshie has played in just 47 games this season, recording 11 goals and 19 points.
Senators Recall Jiri Smejkal
The Ottawa Senators have recalled forward Jiri Smejkal from the Belleville Senators (Twitter link). Smejkal has been between rosters all season long, rejoining the AHL on March 13th and scoring three points in the five games since.
This move now marks Smejkal’s sixth call-up of the season, an impressive feat for the first-year North American pro. Smejkal signed a one-year, $950K entry-level deal with Ottawa this summer, moving to Canada after spending nine seasons across various European pro leagues. He’s quickly slotted into the role of de facto fill-in, despite just 22 points through his first 45 AHL games. His NHL performances haven’t been any more exciting, boasting just one assist in 12 games. He’s clearly still adjusting to North America, scoring significantly less than he did in the pair of 40-point seasons he posted in the SHL and Liiga over the last two years.
Even in the absence of scoring, Smejkal has brought a stout and professional frame – standing at a sturdy 6-foot-4 and 209 pounds. Ottawa will again lean on that frame to make an impact, as Angus Crookshank joins a long list of absent forwards with an undisclosed injury. Ottawa is also missing Joshua Norris, Zack MacEwen, Matthew Highmore, and Rourke Chartier. Their absences have tested Ottawa’s depth, but Smejkal isn’t their last line of defense – with top prospects Zack Ostapchuk and Roby Jarventie still in the AHL. Both players have received a half-dozen NHL games this season but Jarventie is the only one to make the scoresheet, managing one assist. Smejkal has averaged under nine minutes of ice time this season and is likely to manage a minimal role once again. But if he isn’t sharp, he could lose time to a top AHL prospect on a Senators team well out of the playoff picture.
Chabot To Return Tuesday Or Thursday
- The Senators won’t have Thomas Chabot in the lineup tonight for the second straight game with a lower-body injury but he shouldn’t be out much longer. TSN’s John Lu relays (Twitter link) that the blueliner is expected to return next week, either on Tuesday or Thursday. The 27-year-old has had an injury-riddled season, being limited to just 44 games so far. He has done well in those, however, collecting 28 points while logging 23:31 per night.
Sens To Discuss Alfredsson's Future After The Season
While plenty of the focus in Ottawa has been regarding their head coaching search, the future of one of their assistants is also in question. In the latest TSN Insider Trading segment, Pierre LeBrun relayed that the Senators intend to sit down with Daniel Alfredsson after the season to assess what he’d like his role to be moving forward. The long-time winger started the season as a development coach before moving behind the bench as an assistant when Jacques Martin took over. With Martin returning to a consulting role in a few weeks, they’ll soon find out if they’ll have another spot to fill on their coaching staff.
Ottawa Senators Recall Tyler Kleven
A few moments ago, the Ottawa Senators announced that the team has recalled defenseman Tyler Kleven from their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators. Since the transaction is being registered as an emergency loan, it will not count against the four potential call-ups the Senators have available to them since the trade deadline.
Albeit positive news for Kleven to be back up at the NHL level, it was preluded by some unfortunate news, as top defenseman Thomas Chabot was injured last night in the team’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, necessitating the transaction. It is unclear how long Chabot will be out with this specific injury, but it has certainly been a theme this season for one of Ottawa’s best players.
Because of these injuries, Chabot has only played in a total of 44 out of a possible 71 games for the Senators this year, projected to be his lowest total since the 2020-21 NHL shortened season. When healthy, Chabot has still been heavily relied upon by Ottawa, scoring eight goals and 28 points while averaging 23:31 of ice time per game.
Kleven, on the other hand, is not as heavily utilized by the Senators, as he’s only suited up in five games at the NHL level this season. In those five contests, the former 44th overall pick has registered only one assist while averaging just over 11 minutes of ice time per game.
At the AHL level, Kleven has shown flashes of being a quality shutdown defenseman in professional hockey, scoring three goals and 17 points in 45 games for Belleville, while also registering a +13 rating. While still carrying six healthy defensemen on the NHL roster, it remains to be seen if Kleven will suit up in the team’s game tonight.
Could Chris Kelly Be An Option To Be Ottawa's Head Coach?
The search for Ottawa’s next coach is well underway with D.J. Smith being let go back in mid-December and Jacques Martin serving in the interim role until the end of the season. Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch suggests that long-time Senators center Chris Kelly is someone they may want to speak to. Kelly, who spent parts of eight seasons in Ottawa and also served as a development coach with them, is currently an assistant in Boston. Among the names speculated to also be under consideration are AHL Toronto’s Jon Gruden, recently-fired veteran bench bosses Todd McLellan, Dean Evason, and Craig Berube, along with Philadelphia associate coach Brad Shaw. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Sens wait until deeper into the offseason to see who else might also become available so it may take a while yet for them to find their next head coach.
Senators Sign Stephen Halliday To Entry-Level Contract
The Ottawa Senators have signed collegiate forward Stephen Halliday to a two-year, entry-level contract. The deal will begin in the 2024-25 season, with Halliday joining the AHL’s Belleville Senators on an amateur try-out for the remainder of the season. Ottawa drafted Halliday in the fourth round of the 2022 NHL Draft – his last year of draft eligibility. He earned the selection with a 95-point season in the USHL, becoming just the third player since 2000 to score 95-or-more points in one season. The dazzling year also earned Halliday the title of all-time leading scorer in the USHL, with a total of 215 points across 215 games in the league.
Halliday was drafted first overall in the 2018 USHL Draft, contextualizing his status as an all-time leading scorer a bit more. But his climb to the title wasn’t necessarily smooth. Halliday struggled to carve out an impactful role through his first two years in juniors, struggling to add finesse to his skating and direction to his aggressiveness. His career was also impeded by the disbandment of the Central Illinois Flying Aces, leading Halliday to an abrupt move to Dubuque in the summer after his rookie season. That left him learning a brand-new system for the second year in a row and it took time for him to adjust. He handled a modest role in his first year in Dubuque, but found his footing in the subsequent season, forming a formidable pairing with Tampa Bay prospect Connor Kurth on Dubuque’s top line.
Halliday has maintained that strong footing ever since, leading The Ohio State University in scoring in each of the last two seasons (77 points in 78 games played). While he can still look awkward at times, Halliday has found a way to control a beautiful finesse that his game has always boasted and becoming much more efficient with his movement around the ice. His game is lanky and slower, but Halliday’s puck skills and physicality more than make up for the deficit. He’ll now get the chance to carry his streak of strong performances into the next level, signing his first professional contract after his sophomore year of college.
Senators Recall Angus Crookshank, Reassign Zack Ostapchuk
Mar. 22: Ottawa confirmed Crookshank’s recall Friday, which came under emergency conditions, although Giroux was okay to play in yesterday’s 5-2 loss to St. Louis. In a corresponding transaction, the team reassigned rookie center Zack Ostapchuk to Belleville, ending his emergency loan. The 20-year-old played in six straight games, the first of his NHL career, after a recall earlier in March. However, he failed to record a point and struggled across the board with a -1 rating, a 30.6 FO%, and a 40.0 CF% at even strength while averaging 10:25 per game.
Mar. 21: The Senators have recalled winger Angus Crookshank from AHL Belleville, per the league’s transactions log. He will play in Thursday’s game against the Blues if Claude Giroux, who assistant coach Daniel Alfredsson said will be a game-time decision due to illness, can’t go.
A fifth-round pick by the Sens in 2018, Crookshank is in his fourth professional season with the organization after wrapping up his collegiate career with the University of New Hampshire in 2021. The 5-foot-11 winger adjusted to the pros well down the stretch in 2020-21, recording 16 points in 19 games, but his progress was stunted when a preseason knee injury cost him the entire 2021-22 season.
He’s been slowly rebounding since, and he’s come out in full force this year with a team-leading 24 goals and 46 points in 50 games for the B-Sens. His performance has been strong enough to earn him two recalls already this season, both emergency loans in December, resulting in his first seven NHL games. Today marks his first day on Ottawa’s roster since being returned to the minors on Jan. 7.
Crookshank didn’t look entirely out of place in his NHL minutes, recording a goal and an assist, but his usage was extremely limited, averaging 8:50 per game. That didn’t hold him back from averaging a shot on goal per game, however, and he had a solid 48.4 CF% at even strength despite starting the majority of his shifts in the defensive zone. He’s an intriguing candidate to see some time higher up in the lineup down the stretch with playoffs no longer possible for Ottawa.
The 24-year-old is in the final season of his entry-level contract, which carries an $838K cap hit and pays him only $70K at the minor-league level. He’ll be an RFA this summer, but he needs one more professional season to have arbitration rights.